Cuomo Has 54% Lead in New York Governor Race, Rasmussen Says

A majority of likely voters support Democrat Andrew Cuomo in his bid for New York governor against Republican Carl Paladino, a Rasmussen Reports poll shows.

Fifty-four percent of likely voters favor Cuomo, the state’s attorney general, compared with 38 percent for Paladino, Rasmussen Reports said today. It’s the first survey of the state’s governor’s race the polling group has conducted since the Sept. 14 primaries.

“This is Paladino’s best showing yet,” Rasmussen Reports said. “It remains to be seen whether this is a short-lived post-primary bounce or a tightening of the race that Cuomo has dominated for months.”

Paladino, a Tea Party supporter and developer from Buffalo, holds a “slight lead” over Cuomo among unaffiliated voters, Rasmussen said. Almost two-thirds of Republicans in the state support him.

The telephone survey of 500 likely voters was taken Sept. 16. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.